Tag
by DarkToLight
Summary: She knew full well that playing games with Albel Nox was a dangerous gambit. -AlNel, AlbelxNel- -Contains allusion to adult themes-


I've been around for a while, I guess, but this is my first SO3 fic, both in writing and posting. Due to a very scratched and faulty disc, I've only got as far as just before the end of disc 1, but my brother is on Disc 2, so I know something of what to expect.

I fell in love with the enigma that is Albel when I first saw him... And boy was I happy when he actually joined. I know AlNel is a common pairing (even if it isn't all that canon) and I love it. To pieces. So, without further ado, the fic!

**Disclaimer: **Own nothing. Make profit off nothing. etc, etc.

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__[She knew full well that playing games with Albel Nox was a dangerous gambit]_

She was… Testing herself, in a way. She wasn't sure what had made her suggest the 'game' they were playing, but, Albel being Albel, he had agreed, with that killer look in his eyes. Red eyes, eyes of blood.

She liked the challenge of trying to defeat Albel, the one they called Wicked, and of seeing how long she could make him run before he got bored and stood still, calling for her to fight properly.

Not this time.

This time he was running with her. He was very, _very_ close behind her, she felt the air move behind her as he swiped with his sword. Well, she could play that way. She spun around and parried with a knife, scraping it across the metal of his katana. He grinned.

"Not good enough, worm," he whispered, but she was gone even as he lunged at her. He looked up to see her on the roof of a nearby house.

"Is that so?" She responded. "Fire Bolt." Albel cursed and dodged, and she vanished down a side street with a laugh.

Of course, she was playing on dangerous ground. Airyglyph wasn't exactly familiar territory despite the number of times she had been there, so Albel had a distinct advantage. He knew every street, every path, because he had lost himself in the street when he was a child, after his father had died. It had taken her a lot of time and sacrifice just to get that little piece of information out of him.

Just to prove that there was a heart underneath that cold exterior.

She rounded a corner to see him lounged against a wall with a grin on his face, and before she could blink she was pinned to the wall, one of his hands holding an arm. The metal claws on his gauntlet scraped against the wood.

"Looks like I caught a mouse," he remarked, a slight grin on his face. She was breathing fairly heavily from the exertion, and met his gaze evenly.

"More than a mouse," she replied. She saw his eyes widen slightly as the runes around her rippled, and she brought her knife up, trying to catch his leg whilst he was sufficiently distracted. He twisted elegantly, taking her arms with him so they were both behind her back. With a flick of his wrist, the dagger clattered to the floor.

"Now, Nel, you should know I won't fall for a trick like that," he whispered in her ear. "What else do you have up your sleeve? Anything?" Nel hooked her foot around and dislodged him, so they both fell backwards, she landing rather painfully on top of him, knocking the wind out of him. Her second dagger was against his throat.

"Is that good enough?" She responded. Strangely, Albel laughed.

"You know, if I hadn't been playing nice, I could have killed you the first time," he remarked. Nel made a noise of disbelief. "So I should win, don't you think, maggot?" She glanced over at her other dagger, and Albel made his move. She barely avoided the gauntlet as he brought his claws around, and she rolled away and grabbed up her dagger.

"So, have you stopped 'playing nice', Wicked one?" She asked. Albel growled, a low, feral sound, and pounced at her. She blocked his sword with her daggers and sent it clattering to one side, so he slammed his gauntlet straight down between them. They went flying, and he put one hand around her throat.

"Are we done?" He asked. The air around her shimmered, the runes forming a casting circle, and Albel laughed. "Close range? I'm not going to be fooled by that, Aquarian rat." Nel smirked and pushed her weight forwards, ending up on top of him, pinning him to the floor in much the same way he had her to the wall.

"Now, we're done," she whispered dangerously, leaning down and claiming his lips. Her prize. Him. He chuckled deep in his throat, the vibrations travelling through her, and twisted slightly, but she kept him pinned. She had won, of course. He always underestimated her ability. Every single time they 'played' this game, no matter how many streets she led him down, however many shortcuts he took, he never won.

Nel was starting to suspect that perhaps he lost on _purpose_, but then, he was Albel Nox. He didn't do losing. Except when it came to her.

"Some people would call this indecent," he remarked once he was able. Nel made an amused noise.

"Like you care," she replied. The look in Albel's eyes was, indeed, truly _wicked_.

"Are you feeling a little…" he shifted slightly in her grasp, "rebellious, then?" Nel smiled slyly.

"Depends if you're up to it," she replied, running the fingers of one hand over his stomach, making him breathe in sharply.

"Me?" He laughed. "One of my reasons for being is to rebel, surely you know that? I was quite a trouble causer as a child and I haven't changed." He grinned dangerously, his teeth sharp. "But you were brought up to be a…" he paused to look derisive, "_respectable young lady._" Nel bit his neck, making his breath hitch.

"Screw that," she responded. "I win. My rules. We agreed, didn't we?"

"I still say I – Uh!" He never managed to finish his sentence, as Nel kissed him viciously and ran a hand up his legs. His clothing – or lack thereof – always proved to be so _perfect_ for situations like this. She knew so many ways to make him moan she was almost proud. Albel, for his part, was mostly annoyed by that, that weakness. According to him, at least, he hadn't even _wanted_ to fall in love with her – not that he ever used the word 'love'. It didn't bother Nel, she could wait. She knew how he was about letting people get close… And even with her, he could be very caustic at times.

"I. Won," she told him possessively. Albel shivered involuntarily underneath her.

"…This time… Worm," he muttered. Nel grinned and moved her hand just _so_, and Albel as good as melted underneath her. He was so _easy_ to please, to arouse, to love…

Every time they did things like this, she tried not to think of all of her fellow Aquarians he had killed, and the way he had abused Tynave, and Farleen.

This was their own little war, she mused, as Albel was summarily deprived of scabbard, belt and sarong all in one. One she was winning, much to Albel's chagrin, and he looked away as she gently removed his gauntlet. Still ashamed after ten years, he reached up to her with his good hand and pulled her into a kiss which Nel knew full well was to stop her looking. She didn't care. She let him have at least that much.

Her first victory had been when they were staying in Aqios, after Fayt had gone to give Elena the letter she had summarily rejected. He had been acting strange, the way he always did in Aquaria, and she had cornered him and demanded an explanation. He'd informed her quite coldly that he had lost a war, which had confused her rather thoroughly, but she'd persevered. Albel was a member of the team – whether he liked it or not – and she had agreed to including him. She had overcome her reservations about him; he could at the very least do the same for her.

He had his hands under her short skirt, half asking, half trying to recreate the sweet torture she was inflicting on him. They were so close; she could almost see his runes on his skin. True, she did not have the power of the Holy Mother, but she still had fairly strong sight. Albel's wasn't terrific, but he saw enough to detect when she was casting magic and react appropriately.

He traced the runes tattooed onto her legs, and she gasped involuntarily. He grinned slightly at this, and, unwilling to let him have his way, she moved _her_ hands, and his smile turned into a look of pleasure, his eyes half lidded. She grinned.

"You want this?" She asked. A half-nod, grudging even now, as Albel rarely liked to admit he'd been beaten. She smiled and moved slightly.

Her second victory had been in Airyglyph, his own ground. They'd retrieved the Glowstone for the rabbit-boy (or man, she was never sure how to tell) and were resting up before venturing back in. she'd heard Albel leave the Inn and had silently followed him out, all the way to some side street very close to the site of Fayt and Cliff's crash landing.

He'd seemed almost immune to the cold air, although his breath was misting just like hers was, and he'd simply turned on the spot and pinned her to the wall, despite her not thinking he'd known she was there. He'd called her a worm, let her go, then turned back to look at the broken wall.

"The strong crush the weak," he'd murmured, and Nel had nervously moved forwards. "But if you do not know which is which, it is hard to apply that definition." She stood beside him and looked at the wreckage, which even now steamed slightly. "I used to come here a lot," he murmured. "When I was younger…" He'd trailed off, looked away and promptly left, refusing to speak to her for the rest of the evening.

It was in the night that he'd finally cracked and told her everything. His whole story.

Nel wasn't certain if she could still hold him down. The full reality of their clandestine little union in this street would probably only hit her if someone found them. Albel seemed to enjoy the thrill of possible discovery, and also of her, but he showed a remarkable ability to keep quiet when the situation asked for it. He whispered her name, on occasion, although it was only when they were together like they were that he showed any sort of respect for her at all. This was _Albel_, the real man behind the façade who worried about his 'friends', who feared to let people near him, lest he hurt them like he did his father.

Nel knew that she would die for him, too, but if she told him that, he would push her away again, like he did everyone else.

Her third little victory had been just after they'd landed in Aquios, riding the dragon that had once taken Albel's father's life. He'd been stood on the balcony, watching them fit the harness to Crosell, and she'd approached him.

"This time, I am strong," he had murmured. "But he does not even remember my face. And you do not get a second chance." Nel had seen the sadness on his face, the terrible sadness hidden not as well as usual behind his mask of hatred and indifference. On impulse, she had put her hand on his arm, and he'd looked over at her, confused.

"Don't feel bad," she'd told him. "You know, if you let the past rule you, you can never move on. You have… Quite literally… Defeated your past. Practically single-handedly. Try again, once this is all over, and he might listen." Albel had laughed harshly.

"…You're a very strange fool, you know that?" He'd replied. "…You don't get a second chance. That's why…" He'd looked away, but Nel had pulled him back round, and even now she didn't know why he'd kissed her then, or why she hadn't pulled away.

They lay in the street, fully clothed once more save for Albel's gauntlet, breathing heavily. Albel was laughing softly, for some reason, but Nel only smiled.

"…You've changed, Aquarian," he told her. Nel sat up.

"No, you've just got to know me," she disagreed. Albel laughed more and sat up himself, a slight smile on his face as he grabbed his gauntlet.

"Perhaps I should have tried it sooner," he remarked. "You can be quite… Interesting, at times. Risky, too." Nel gave him a strange look.

"Perhaps I should have got to know_ you_ a little sooner, Albel Nox," she replied. "But we've been out for far too long." With an amused noise, the now-gauntleted Albel stood up and, in a rare gesture of friendship, offered her his hand. She took it.

"…I have a bad feeling," he admitted. "About Fayt and the others. Those worms are bound to get themselves into trouble, don't you think?" Nel nodded.

"Yes, but… What can we do? What do we have? We can't… Travel in space…" She replied. Albel sighed.

"…I'm going to the training facility tomorrow," he told her. "I have a few things to clear up there. I don't know how long I'll be, but if I were you, I wouldn't stay in Airyglyph." Nel nodded.

"I am me, and I won't be," she responded. "You know where I'll be if… You want to come and find me." Albel gave her an indecipherable look.

"…I'll come some time," he replied, heading for the castle, only pausing to shoot back a 'maggot' at her. Nel smiled.

She'd lost count of which little victory this one was.

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**A/N- **Please review and tell me what you think! Critique is also much welcomed. Please help me improve, and things.


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